If you work in mountain operations or resort marketing, you know this challenge well: your guests aren’t just “guests.” They’re locals chasing powder days, destination travelers planning long weekends, passholders who live on the mountain, and first-timers figuring out where to park and how to get their rentals.
For Mountain Capital Partners (MCP), that diversity created both an opportunity and a problem. How do you speak to all of those audiences in a way that actually feels relevant? And how do you do it across multiple resorts without overwhelming your teams?
Their marketing leader, Kyle Sawatzke, and his team shifted their strategy to purposeful and thoughtful segmentation, focusing on delivering the right message to the right guest at the right time.
The result has been stronger engagement, improved loyalty and marketing that genuinely helps guests have a better experience.
As Kyle explains:
“We have this information and we can hyper-target, easily segment our audience, and make sure that we’re talking to the right people.”
Here are the segmentation strategies that helped make that possible.
The Evolution from “Batch and Blast” to Meaningful Messaging
There was a time when batch-and-blast emails were the norm. Segmenting meant looking at opens and clicks, then retargeting based on limited signals. But as guest expectations increased, that approach started to fall short.
The team understood that this approach limited both engagement and loyalty.
“Years ago the batch-and-blast approach was more relevant… but now we can talk directly to you, which is very powerful.”
The shift wasn’t simply about technology; it was about changing the mindset of marketing communication. Instead of asking “What promotion should we send?”, the team now asks “What would actually help this guest right now?” That philosophy became a guiding principle.
“I approach all of our campaigns with the ‘How can I help you?’ mentality.”
When segmentation is built around guest needs instead of internal promotions, messaging becomes far more relevant and effective.
Start with Real Guest Behaviors
One of MCP’s biggest segmentation breakthroughs came from grounding campaigns in actual guest behavior. By connecting accesso’s Siriusware (their system of record) with Ascent360 (their CDP and marketing platform), MCP created a single, unified view of the guest.
Now, MCP can segment based on what guests buy and do, allowing marketing to mirror the real visitor journey. For example:
- Lesson participants may receive invitations to advance to the next level
- Frequent skiers might get targeted powder-day alerts
- Scenic lift visitors may receive summer experience recommendations
These campaigns are designed to build on the guest’s previous behavior rather than pushing blanket offers.
Personalization Across the Entire Guest Journey
Segmentation becomes even more powerful when applied throughout the entire visit. MCP focuses on three key moments.
Before the Visit: Be Informative and Helpful
Pre-arrival communications are one of the most impactful segmentation opportunities. Guests who purchased lessons need different information than those with lift tickets or lodging reservations. Providing tailored guidance helps them arrive prepared.
According to Kyle, these messages are simple but extremely effective.
“We find the product the guest purchased, find their start date, and send them a message letting them know what they can expect… it doesn’t get any easier than that.”
Not all guests plan the same way and MCP leans into that where locals might decide the morning of a powder day where destination travelers are planning days or weeks in advance.
So the messaging shifts:
- Locals: urgency, conditions, quick-hit communication
- Destination guests: lodging, events, longer stays, planning support
When guests arrive informed, they feel prepared, and excitement follows.
During the Visit: Focus on Experience
Segmentation extends beyond email to include SMS alerts and app-based experiences, helping to improve on-site touchpoints for the different audiences. For example:
- Rental-heavy resorts focus on efficient gear pickup and drop off
- Guests who have booked lessons need clear directions
- Families benefit from wayfinding and activity guidance
These insights help operational teams deliver an effective guest journey.
After the Visit: Build Loyalty
The post-visit window is where segmentation truly drives retention. Instead of sending the same follow-up to every visitor, MCP tailors outreach based on what guests actually experienced. For instance, a guest who took a lesson might receive:
- A thank-you message
- An invitation to their next-level lesson
- Information about upcoming events or programs
As Kyle explains:
“Being able to segment who took a group lesson, we can invite them back… start with a thank-you campaign and show what’s happening next.”
The key is relevance and needs to be put into practice. Messages that reflect a guest’s experience feel helpful, not promotional.
Why Segmentation Improves Guest Loyalty
Segmentation isn’t just about marketing efficiency; it directly impacts guest loyalty and how they feel about your brand. Kyle believes personalization will only become more important moving forward.
“Personalization is everything… but we still have to keep the soul in our marketing and make sure we’re helping our guests.”
The challenge for marketers is balancing automation with authenticity. Data enables personalization, but great marketing still requires human understanding of the audience.
Actionable Segmentation Takeaways for Marketers
Organizations looking to improve segmentation can start with a few practical steps.
- Begin with simple audience groups: start with basic segmentation like passholders vs. non-passholders or locals vs. destination travelers and build complexity over time.
- Segment based on behavior, not assumptions: purchase history, visitation frequency, and product types provide valuable signals about guest interests.
- Align messaging with the guest journey: segment communications around key phases to include pre-arrival, on-site and post-visit follow-up.
- Focus on helpful content: ask the same question MCP uses internally: “How does this message help the guest?”
- Share insights across teams: segmentation works best when marketing, operations, and guest services collaborate using the same guest data sets.
Segmentation Is the Foundation of Modern Mountain Marketing
For organizations managing diverse audiences and experiences, segmentation is essential to be competitive. By understanding who their guests are and communicating accordingly, Mountain Capital Partners has transformed marketing from promotional messaging into something more valuable: guidance that improves the experience, elevates the brand and when marketing helps guests have a better trip, loyalty follows.
To learn more about how Mountain Capital Partners implemented these strategies in practice, explore the accompanying case study.